Protective curtain assembly



Jan. 20, 1970 J. w. POSTON 3,490,315

PROTECTIVE CURTAIN ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 18, 1967 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,490,815 PROTECTIVE CURTAIN ASSEMBLY Jerry W. Poston, 38723 Monterey Drive, Sterling Township, Macomb County, Mich. 48659 Filed Oct. 18, 1967, Ser. No. 676,260 Int. Cl. F16c 17/00, 21/00, 29/04 US. Cl. 308-15 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a protective curtain assembly easily attached to a machine tool to protect its parts from chips, turnings, and grindings to the full extent of table travel beyond the machine base without enlarging the area occupied by the machine so equipped.

While various devices have been employed heretofore to attempt to so protect machine tools they are complicated in design and construction, expensive to manufacture, ditficult to mount and use, and either take too much room or are incapable of protecting the machine in all positions of the machine table.

With the foregoing in view, the primary object of the invention is to provide an automatically extendable and retractable protective curtain to protect the machine from chips which is simple in design and construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to mount, automatic in use, and which does not extend the base of the machine by the curtain and which covers the machine to the full extent of table travel.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description of the device embodying the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is the side elevational view of the protective curtain assembly in mounted position on a machine which is shown in broken lines.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device seen in FIG. 1 taken on the line 22 thereof showing attachment to the machine table; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the devise seen in FIG. 1 taken on the line 3-3 thereof showing the structure and construction of the various parts.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like numerals refer to like and corresponding parts throughout the several views, the automatic protective curtain device disclosed therein to illustrate the invention comprises a protective curtain 10. The protective curtain is wound on a roll 11. The roll 11 has a torsion spring 9 permitting unwinding of the curtain 10 relative to the roll 11 in one direction and rewinding the curtain 10 on the roll 11 in the opposite direction. The roll 11 is mounted on a machine or machine base 12 by paired arms 13 preferably close to and below the machine base 12.

p A traveling table 14 moves on way 16 of the machine. An attaching plate is bolted to the table 14. The outer end of the curtain 10 is attached to the plate 15. The curtain 10 thus leads from the roll 11 to the table 14 in a spanning section S between these points over the end or side of the machine base 12.

3,490,815 Patented Jan. 20, 1970 A rocking bracket assembly 20 has paired legs 21 of triangular shape and the lower inside corner of each leg is pivotally attached to the machine base 12 by tabs 24; the outside lower corner has a roller 23 between the legs 21; and the upper corner has a roller 22 between the legs 21. The rollers 22 and 23 engage the curtain 10 in its spanning section S.

When the table 14 moves to the left as shown the curtain winds off the roll 11 over the rollers 22 and 23. When the table 14 moves to the right the curtain winds on the roll 11 and over the rollers 22 and 23 until the table 14 and/or plate 15 contacts and/or overtravels the roller 22. When the overtravel occurs the bracket assembly 20 rocks outwardly to its dotted line position of FIG. 1 permitting the overtravel and the curtain 10 may again unwind from the roll 11. The dotted line indication of overtravel is limited in the drawing; the overtravel may be as far as desired.

The curtain assembly is easily attached to a machine tool, automatically Winds on and off the roll 11 and automatically provides protective overtravel of the table without enlarging the area permanently occupied by the machine.

It will also be observed that the curtain 10 is substantially vertical in the overtravel position so that all chips on the curtain fall off in one location where they can be collected or dumped into a container. Upon the table 14 and/ or mounting plate 15 moving away from the bracket assembly 20 and over the base of the machine the tension of the curtain 10 is applied to the top roller 22 and the bracket assembly is pulled up adjacent the machine side as seen in the solid lines of FIG. 1 so that it is repositioned from its outwardly rocked position automatically.

It has been one of the problems of industry to protect the ways and interior of machine tools from chips, etc., without permanently occupying valuable floor space which cannot be allotted for such purpose and the device of the invention solves this problem by giving complete protection to the machine in all of its positions without occupying this valuable space.

While only a single embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail it is obvious that many changes may be made in the size, shape, detail, and arrangement of the various elements of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A protective curtain assembly to protect the ways and interior of the machine from chips without the protective curtain fixedly extending the area occupied by the machine to the extent of its full table travel wherein the machine has a base and a table traveling on Ways over and beyond the base of the machine for moving a workpiece and tool relative to one another, comprising a roll mountable on a machine base spaced below its ways and traveling table having a winding and unwinding torsion spring,

means for attaching said roll to a machine,

a protective curtain having opposite ends with one end attached to and wound on said roll so that extension of said curtain relative to said roll is permitted by unwinding said curtain from said roll and torsionally winding said spring and retraction of said curtain is accomplished by said spring torsionally turning said roll to rewind said curtain on said roll,

means for attaching said other end of said curtain to the table traveling on the ways of the machine so that said curtain extends upwardly in a spanning section from said roll at a point spaced below said table past the machine base to the point of attachment to the traveling table,

pivot means mountable on the machine base for rock- 3,490,815 3 4 ably mounting a bracket assembly on the machine said bracket and rollers thereby being self-positioning base in the location of said spanning portion of said depending on the position of said spanning section; curtain, said spring extensibly and retr-actably tensioning said a bracket assembly comprising paired triangular legs curtain between said roll and its point of attachment having upper, lower and outer corners and inner, 5 to the table over said bracket relative to at least one outer and bottom sides; of its said rollers; said legs being mounted on said pivot means at said travel of the machine table away from said bracket exlower corners with said legs inner sides extending upwardly therefrom to said legs upper corners and said legs bottom side projecting outwardly therefrom under said pivot means and said legs inner sides swung away and extending outwardly from the machine and its legs upper corners lying sidewise outtending said curtain over the machine ways and the interior of the machine shrouding same from chips in the travel of the machine table toward said bracket to said legs outer corners; allowing said spring torsion roll to retract said cursaid bracket being swingable from a position with its tain; and

said legs inner side abutting a machine and lying table travel over and beyond said bracket being allowed substantially vertical and its said legs upper corners by said bracket rocking to its out-position clearing substantially above said pivot means and its said legs passage for said table with said curtain extending to lower side substantial horizontal and its said legs accommodate the overtravel of the table to the full lower corners sidewise outwardly of said pivot means extension of the table with the curtain only occupyto a position with its said legs bottom sides abutting ing the extended area during overtravel positions of a machine and extending vertically below said pivot machine table travel.

means and its said legs lower corners substantially References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS wardly of said pivot means; 843,578 19 7 Thelin 308-65 an upper roller between said legs upper corners and a 1%; a g ggn-l-gl-l-t- 1 11 b t 'd i t f i u OWer r0 r 6 Ween sal egs ou er corners or en ,551, 5/1951 Wake 308 315 gaging said spanning section of said curtain;

said bracket swinging outwardly with machine table movement and contact in the outward direction of movement of the table and said bracket swing inwardly by contact with said curtain section on said upper roller;

MARTIN P. SCHWADRON, Primary Examiner L. L. JOHNSON, Assistant Examiner 

